Today we took Forrest on his second outing outside of Shepherd. His Recreational Therapist, Mom, and I took him in our car to Panera for lunch! He’s been on one other lunch trip with his therapists, but this was the first time Mom and I have been with him outside of Shepherd. Going to a restaurant, even a calm one like Panera, was quite a shock for Forrest, lots of conversations and background noise, but he was a champ about it. We helped him pick out a meal, then he went up with us to the cashier to order. Forrest’s voice is still coming back after the surgery and it’s still very quiet. The young man behind the register was a real saint. He patiently listened to Forrest and nicely asked him to clarify several times. He was so polite and understanding with Forrest, but treated him like a normal adult, which is helpful for his recovery. After that we picked out booth in the middle of the seating area. Forrest ate well, he is still much quieter than pre-surgery but that will improve.
For the last week Mom has been going behind the counter at Panera to add coconut milk and protein powder to the smoothies for Forrest since they are “low-fat” and we’re trying to put calories on Forrest. Today the girl who has been making the smoothies was so excited to see Forrest actually there! She and the kind man behind the register came over to get a picture with us.
Most days start and end and nothing much happens in between that alters the course of life or is very memorable. Today helped show us that every day someone goes out of their way to help a stranger (as in Panera), it’s been an important and meaningful day.
Tomorrow Mom and I start Family Training at 7:30am, and Forrest will graduate from Shepherd in a small ceremony. Then on Saturday we will move him into the apartment at Shepherd where we will be living with him until we find somewhere closer to Pathways near Decatur, Atlanta. Lots of milestones!
Love,
Austin and Team Forrest
Panera outing
Happy St. Patrick's day!
I see less facial swelling already! And I'm shaking my head....less than a week out from major surgery and Forrest is having lunch at Panera. Wow. Powerful is the word that comes to mind. Powerful healing, powerful knowledge (Shephard), powerful love from family and kind strangers.
ReplyDeleteOur love and prayers follow you through the joyous transitions of today and next week. May they be smooth and uneventful and oh so quickly familiar to Forrest.
Love,
Shannon and the Davis 5
May the strength of God pilot us, may the wisdom of God instruct us, may the hand of God protect us, and may the word of God direct us. Be always ours this day and for evermore. St. Patrick
Hope you had a little green fun last night? XO
Oh, you guys! My heart broke earlier in the week, reading about Forrest coming out of anesthesia. Now my heart soars again, reading about your love, strength, amazing progress.. and the goodness of strangers as Forrest makes his way on this path to recovery.
ReplyDeleteForrest is on his way to a full recovery, but as your blog has chronicled, you have seen the worst life can throw at you, and yet you have also met incredible people, and found new ways to appreciate where you are.
While the tragic experience you are going through is not at all like Caroline's situation (her disability caused by a lack of oxygen at birth, umbilical cord, no doc...), there is a poem I enjoy now and then that I want to share. A lot of special needs parents get strength from it, and you might too, though you have been in Italy and crash landed in Holland...
WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by
Emily Perl Kingsley.
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
We love you all, and send hugs, prayers, best wishes...can't wait to see a fully recovered Forrest taking Sundance to meet with other TBI patients, and with school classes to talk about his "trip".
Carina, Caroline and Sajen
Dean, Kaki and Christina Elgin
down the hill and to the left
Always wonderful to read how kind people have been to you all. So happy that Forrest's progress is so remarkable!
ReplyDelete